What skills has your MasterMind group taught you?

Guest Contributor: Kayleen Reusser
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Yesterday a friend, Kandice, and I were talking about a mutual friend whose son had recently been in a dirt bike accident and hit his head. the tragic news is that he may be paralyzed. The friend with me and I were trying to think of ways to help the mother and her family during this time. My friend said, "We'll put you in charge of the networking about this. You're good at that."

Really? I had not thought of myself as being especially good at networking or even being known outside of my MasterMind group as a networker. How did she know I networked? As far as I knew, this friend didn't even know I belonged to a MasterMind group, which I met in another city. Our friendship didn't delve into that type of discussion.

Even more interesting, why did she think I was a good networker? I've never really practiced it - I thought-outside of my MasterMind group.

In starting to think about my MasterMind group, I realized it has reaped benefits for me, including networking skills, outside of the time spent with the group.

Through the encouragement of this group, in 2008 I helped organize a volunteer group called Stitches of Hope (www.stitchesofhope.com) that creates beautiful handmade caps for people who have lost their hair due to cancer, burns and other illnesses (coincidentally it was with the same friend whose son was tragically injured). I say the MasterMind group encouraged me because when I told them about the organization, they never told me the idea was too big, too silly, -- too anything -- to attempt. That kind of support is hard to find in this world.

Since July 2008, our Stitches of Hope group has distributed 1,400 items to medical facilities in 7 US states. My co-founder and I have been interviewed on radio, TV, and via Internet. The publicity gained through writing my six children's books, which resulted from the feedback received through my MasterMind group, helped me prepare for these additional networking opportunities. Instead of being nervous so my voice shook during an interview, I thought of my MasterMind friends who thought I could do anything and proceeded calmly to give sensible answers.

I've already contacted our Stitches of Hope volunteers by email to fill them in on this sad development. When I asked for some of them to help me with mailing, stuffing and sorting, someone offered to do several of those tasks. That is a huge relief.

So I guess my friend Kandice was right. I am a good networker. Now I plan to use those skills to help my friend's injured son and her family with organizing the dozens of volunteers who want to help the family. I expect we'll have fundraisers to pay for the cost of transportation for the family to a rehab center across the country. That will take networking and organization, the same type I've used for my volunteer and other writing tasks.

What skills has your MasterMind group taught you that you've carried over to your private life? If you can teach them to others or better yet, use them to help others, you'll gain the maximum effect of the group.

Who You Know

Guest Contributor: Kelly Smith
Kelly's Posts - Kelly's Blog

"Men take on the nature and the habits and the power of thought of those with whom they associate in a spirit of sympathy and harmony." wrote Napoleon Hill in "Think and Grow Rich."

Napolean Hill was the first to discuss the mastermind concept in this book. In this particular excerpt he was talking about Henry Ford's mastermind group and how Ford's most significant strides in success and achievements came to fruition when he befriended successful people such as Thomas A. Edison, Harvey Firestone, John Burroughs and Luther Burbank.

As a mother of two even though my own children are only 4 and 5 years old, I am already conscious of the influence other children's behaviors on them as children often mimic the children around them. When they become adolescents it will be in the form of peer pressure and as adults it often isn't much different.

Your own parents may have said things to you about certain friends you may have "hung out" with as an adolescent and you thought at the time your parents were being judgemental but in fact your parents were consciously or subconsciously preparing you for the future as we have an innate nature of fitting in with those groups we feel we may "belong with."

In fact, it's possible to elevate your own surroundings which will in turn elevate yourself. Masterminding gives you the control of your own destiny.

A mentor of mine said when you start your business the first thing you should do is eliminate all the negative people around you for at least 90 days. This may sound harsh now, but try it yourself. For 90 days.

Surround yourself only by positive, motivated, successful people. Joining a mastermind can be a great way to do this.

If you have been surrounded by negativity and sarcasm up until now, you will find a huge difference in that successful and positive people want you to succeed as well.

The phrase, "Misery loves company" actually holds merit.

Today is day one. Are you ready to take the wheel and be in control of your success?

What Kind of Mastermind?

Guest Contributor: George J. Sierchio
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Just like many things in life and business, mastermind groups come in many flavors. What you are trying to accomplish will determine what kind to look for and ultimately join.

Of course, inside of the type or goal of a group, you then have to put into play whether or not you personally fit into the group. And that brings along a few other options to look at closely.

Take these questions into account:

Are you looking for a mastermind group that is industry based such as leaders of retail based or technology service based businesses?
Are you looking for one catering to CEO's of businesses with fewer than 20 employees?
How about one that only focuses on sales and marketing for small business?
Do you want a true mastermind group that is facilitated by someone that has already been where you are trying to get to or are you looking for more of a peer group with no real leader?
What about paid groups that cost $50 to $5000 a month versus ones that cost whatever it takes to eat breakfast in a corner of an IHOP?
Are you into face-to-face meetings, telephone meetings, or a combo of both?
Would you rather a mastermind group that meets for a full 2 days quarterly or just once a month?
Does once a month for an hour work or is a half day or a full day better?
How does the mastermind organization handle dealing with non-disclosure from the members?
What about non-competing members?
Do they encourage networking and joint ventures?
Is there a high level of educational material available as a mastermind group member?
What is the maximum number of members allowed in the group?
Once a group is started is the membership locked unless voted on to let new people in?
What's the minimum commitment (6 months, 12 months, 18 months)?

I could probably list out another 10 or so but I think you get the point. Mastermind groups come in all shapes and sizes with different nuances and focuses. For this same reason, those that believe in the power of the mastermind group for learning, support, accountability and camaraderie among like-minded people, often find themselves in multiple groups.

One last note here. Don't be discouraged if a particular group ends up not working for you. There will be questions you may forget to ask before joining a mastermind group before you realize a reason why the group is not for you. Sometime there are just too many personality conflicts to deal with that you could have no way of knowing existed. It take a commitment to make this work so you need to be comfortable in sticking around.

So good luck in your hunt for a suitable mastermind group.

Mastermind Retreat

Guest Contributor: Anne-Marie-Faiola

Anne-Marie's Posts - Anne-Marie's Blog

Recently, our Mastermind Group went on a retreat. We rented a home (in a lovely warm climate) and went on a trip together. We didn't know what to expect but it turned out to a wonderfully cementing experience for us as a group.

Things that worked out well for us were:

Eating meals together - We found that our conversation was about theories, books we had read and exciting plans we had (rather than gossip or griping)

Working out together - We would go on walks or jogs and find ourselves trying to remember all of our goals from memory and making it a game to see who could shout out all of them, while running. That practice and activity really spiraled the energy up.

Diet - It was amazing to spend all day, every day, with the group and see what our natural diets were. Best practices were shared and now we're all doing goals around improving what we fuel our body with

Reading - The group was all reading different, exciting books and every day ended up like a mini book club lecture series with all of us sharing the best things we had read that day. The discussions that came from these intellectual mind dumps was invaluable.

If you haven't planned a retreat for your Mastermind Group, perhaps now is the time to step your group up to the next level of cohesiveness. It's easy. Rent a house. Plan some activities and let the rest come naturally. You'll be delighted with the results.